1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of 3-D stereo imaging and display systems, including 3-D stereo video computer graphics displays, stereo photographic systems, 3-D movies, and 3-D stereo printers.
2. Description of Related Art
This application is identical to and replaces Applicant's Ser. No. 7/612,494, now abandoned, which was unintentionally and inadvertently abandoned. Since the invention of the stereoscope in 1847 by David Brewster man continues his quest for copying natures 3-D images instead of being content with the planar 2-D images which lack the realism due to the absence of depth cues. Realistic 3-D imaging is compatible with our stereo vision. Many techniques have been devised and developed for producing 3-D images with varying degrees of success and image qualities. These techniques generally belong to two major classes (FIG. 1a), the Auto-Stereoscopic imaging class which produces 3-D images which can be viewed freely without spectacles, and the Binocular Stereoscopic imaging class which produces 3-D images which require the viewers to wear spectacles. Each of the two classes has a group of distinct techniques that have been used in some applications. My co-pending application Ser. No. 07/536,190, now abandoned, gives an overview of these techniques, their operating principles, their advantages and disadvantages. In Ser. No. 7/536,190, I introduced a new 3-D imaging technique based on spatial multiplexing of images and micro-polarizer arrays (.mu.Pol) and pointed to its advantages over prior art techniques. It depends on the ability to manufacture the .mu.Pols which is taught in my co-pending application Ser. No. 7/536,419, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,285. One of the major advantages of this so called .mu.Pol imaging technique is that it can be used in a much wider application spectrum than prior techniques. Another advantage is its ability to overcome the shortcomings of prior art techniques. Many uses of the .mu.Pol technology are described in co-pending applications Ser. No. 7/561,104, U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,520; Ser. No. 7/554,743, now abandoned; Ser. No. 7/587,664, U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,013; Ser. No. 7/554,742, U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,343; Ser. No. 7/561,090, now abandoned; and Ser. No. 7/561,141, now abandoned.
This invention shows how the use of .mu.Pol technology leads to a totally new and distinct 3-D stereo imaging class which is referred to as the Multi-Mode Stereoscopic Imaging class as shown in FIG. 1b. The main feature of this class is the convertibility from one viewing mode to another. It is capable, for instance, of producing 3-D images which can be viewed with no glasses (Auto-Mode) which can then be switched by the user to the Binocular Mode of viewing with glasses. The two prior art classes have either one viewing mode or the other but never both at the same time.